my instrument panels have a plastic overlay with built in electrostatic instrument lighting. Each overlay has two power wires for the lights, that pass through small holes in the aluminum instrument panel.

I’m looking for a suggestion for a connector I can use for the power wires that can be connected and disconnected on the outside of the aluminum panel (behind the overlay) then fed through the small hole in the panel so the overlay sits flush. A two pin molex .062 connector is slightly too big.

Any thoughts?

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my instrument panels have a plastic overlay with built in electrostatic instrument lighting. Each overlay has two power wires for the lights, that pass through small holes in the aluminum instrument panel.

I’m looking for a suggestion for a connector I can use for the power wires that can be connected and disconnected on the outside of the aluminum panel (behind the overlay) then fed through the small hole in the panel so the overlay sits flush. A two pin molex .062 connector is slightly too big.

Any thoughts?

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I have lots of pins, and the tooling, and lots of heat shrink. But I don’t think my avionics person will sign off on it. He’s quite conservative.

Can I tell him it passes AC 43.13?

I don't think AC43.13 would prohibit it
but it's certainly unique with respect to
legacy techniques. But if you'd asked
some FAA master of the rule books if
we could figure out a way to run dozens
of amps through arrays of 20AWG d-sub
pine, you would most certainly have been
discouraged from attempting it. Yet this
technique flew on a military supersonic
target and on numerous power distribution
boxes in the Hawker 4000.

Give it a try. If push comes to shove, you
can go to knife splices under heat-shrink
or even solder-sleeves. These wires are
seldom opened for service . . . there's
probably enough slack to cut out and replace
several solder sleeves . . . by that time
you'll probably be more than ready to sell
the airplane.

The knife splice is attractive from the
perspective of wire lost during each remove
replace operation. Cutting the single terminal
off the EL panel power wire only deprives you
of 3/16" or so of wire. Cutting out a solder
sleeve would double that.

Bob . . .

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I have lots of pins, and the tooling, and lots of heat shrink. But I don’t think my avionics person will sign off on it. He’s quite conservative.

Can I tell him it passes AC 43.13?

I don't think AC43.13 would prohibit it
but it's certainly unique with respect to
legacy techniques. But if you'd asked
some FAA master of the rule books if
we could figure out a way to run dozens
of amps through arrays of 20AWG d-sub
pine, you would most certainly have been
discouraged from attempting it. Yet this
technique flew on a military supersonic
target and on numerous power distribution
boxes in the Hawker 4000.

Give it a try. If push comes to shove, you
can go to knife splices under heat-shrink
or even solder-sleeves. These wires are
seldom opened for service . . . there's
probably enough slack to cut out and replace
several solder sleeves . . . by that time
you'll probably be more than ready to sell
the airplane.

The knife splice is attractive from the
perspective of wire lost during each remove
replace operation. Cutting the single terminal
off the EL panel power wire only deprives you
of 3/16" or so of wire. Cutting out a solder
sleeve would double that.

Bob . . .

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